Section 13

The third sort of motives to excite your love to Christ, may be drawn from the consideration of Christ's benefits. If you are true Christians you have: 1. Spiritual light from Christ. 2. Spiritual life from him. 3. The pardon of sin from him. 4. The robes of righteousness from him. 5. The peace of conscience from him. 6. The joys of the Holy Ghost from him. 7. The riches of grace from him. 8. The dignity of children from him. 9. The spirit of prayer from him. 10. Title to the kingdom of heaven, with the first fruits and foretastes of it from him here, and shall be put into the possession of it by him hereafter.

1. You have spiritual light from Christ; Christ is the sun from whom all the beams of this light do come: time was when you were not only in the dark, but darkness; but Jesus Christ did enlighten you (Ephesians 5:8). For you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord; walk as children of the light: it is Christ that has turned you from darkness to light, that has translated you out of darkness into his marvelous light, he has caused a marvelous light to shine into your minds, whereby he has discovered to you the wonderful things of the law, that thereby you might discern the odious nature of sin; and whereby he has discovered to you the wonderful mysteries of the gospel, that thereby you might discern the excellency of gospel privileges, and the exceeding riches of God's grace and kindness through Jesus Christ. Christ has opened your eyes to see the chiefest evil, that you might be delivered from it, and the chiefest good and happiness that you might attain to it. And does not this light which you have from Christ call for your love? If the man that was born blind, and was cured of his natural darkness by Christ, did love Christ for this favor, so as boldly to plead for him before the Pharisees, though he were for it cast out of the synagogues, as you may read in (John 9), how much more reason have you to love Christ, who has cured you of your spiritual darkness; which had it continued, you would have gone blindfold to hell, where there is blackness of darkness forever?

2. You have spiritual life from Christ; you were spiritually dead, and Christ has quickened you (Ephesians 2:1). You has he quickened who were dead in sins and trespasses. We read that Christ raised Lazarus from the dead after he had been buried four days (John 11). Lazarus did love Christ before, but no doubt this resurrection of him so wonderfully did endear his love to Christ exceedingly; and shall not Christ's raising you up from your spiritual death, raise your hearts to a great height of love to Christ! You will greatly love one that is instrumental to save your natural life, when in great hazard and danger, especially if he should do it by venturing his own; and will you not greatly love Christ who has given you spiritual life, which is far more excellent than the life of nature; and when he died that you might live, and when if you had not received this spiritual life from him, you could not have escaped eternal death?

3. You have the pardon of sin from Christ; this Christ has purchased for you, and the purchase has cost him dear, even his blood which was of more worth than the treasures, were there so many, of ten thousand worlds; this Christ has sued out for you by his intercession at the right hand of God. While you were under the guilt of sin you were bound over by the justice of God to suffer the vengeance of eternal fire; but being pardoned your obligation to future punishment is taken off, and you are no more liable to wrath to come, and the vengeance of hell, than if you had never sinned. And will you not love the Lord Jesus Christ, who has procured for you so great a privilege? We read of one that had much forgiven her, and she loved much (Luke 7:47), and have not you had much forgiven? Have not your sins been very numerous, and very heinous? And has Christ obtained the pardon of them all? And will not you love Christ much?

4. You have the robes of righteousness from Christ: you are born naked of original righteousness, and you could not work out any actual righteousness for yourselves that might cover your nakedness, whatever you wrought yourselves it was rags that could not cover you, and it was filthy rags which did pollute and defile you. Christ has given you the robes of his perfect righteousness to cover and adorn you with, and therein you are accepted as perfectly righteous in the sight of God. O how should we love the Lord Jesus for this garment; if your bodies were naked and one should give you clothes to cover you, especially if they were rich clothes, you would love such a person; and will you not love the Lord Jesus Christ who has given you a garment to cover your souls, and that a very rich one, even the robes of his most pure and unspotted righteousness which by faith is put upon you?

5. You have peace of conscience from Christ. This is that peace which the Scripture tells us passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). It passes all understanding to know the worth of it; such as have this peace would not leave it upon any account, they would part with estate or liberty, or life rather than part with their peace; and those which have it not, but now do slight and neglect it, yet if they be awakened by the sides of the grave, and when they are come to the confines of eternity, then they would value this peace, and would give all the world (were it at their dispose) for it. This jewel of peace you have from Jesus Christ, he has purchased it for you, the chastisement of your peace was upon him, and he has promised and bequeathed it in his last will and testament to you (John 14:27). My peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. In his reconciling you to God he has laid a foundation for this peace in all you that are true believers; and if he has moreover spoken peace to you in giving you well-grounded evidences of your reconciliation; if after raising a storm, he has sent a calm into your spirits, and given a sweet serenity to you in the testimony of his Spirit to and with your spirits that your peace is made with God, O how should this draw forth your love to Christ?

6. You have the joys of the Holy Ghost from Christ. We read of the Thessalonians, that they received the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost (1 Thessalonians 1:6). Such are those joys spoken of in the text, which are unspeakable and full of glory. These are not carnal joys but spiritual, which are of a higher nature and sweeter relish, that have a higher object, and are the beginnings of eternal joys; if you have these joys in any measure, you have them from Christ; he sends the Holy Ghost from heaven to be your comforter, to fill your hearts with spiritual joys, and shall not your hearts then be filled with love to the Lord Jesus who is the author of them?

7. You have the riches of grace from Christ: if any of you were poor and ready to starve with hunger and cold, and a rich man should give or send to you a chest full of gold and silver or a cabinet full of jewels worth many thousand pounds; would you not love such a benefactor? The Lord Jesus has given you the riches of grace, the least measure of which is really of more worth than the vastest treasures of gold, silver, and precious stones, that ever was gathered together and heaped up by the most wealthy man that ever lived upon the face of the earth; and will you not love Jesus Christ who has given you these inestimable riches?

8. You have the dignity of children from Christ; (1 John 3:1) Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God! This privilege of adoption is bestowed upon you, not only by the Father, but also by the Son; (John 1:12) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. We read of some raised from the dust, and lifted up from the dunghill to sit with princes (Psalm 113:7-8). It is a far higher advancement to be lifted up from the dunghill of sin, and of slaves to lusts, and children of the devil, to be made the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. This honor have all the saints, and it is Jesus Christ who has conferred this honor upon you; and will not this endear your love to Christ?

8. You have the Spirit of prayer from Christ; being sons, the Spirit of the Son is sent down into your hearts whereby you are enabled to say Abba Father (Galatians 4:6). Through Christ you have access to God by the Spirit (Ephesians 2:18). It is the Spirit of Christ which helps your infirmities in prayer; that forms your petitions, that enables you to pray with faith and life, and fervor. Through Christ you have free admittance to the throne of grace, through Christ you have assistance by his Spirit to pray in prayer; through Christ you have audience, and gracious returns; O how are you beholden to Christ? And how should you love him?

10. You have a title to the kingdom of heaven from Christ. Through Christ you are children, and through Christ you are heirs. It is Christ that gives the first fruits of the heavenly Canaan, the earnest of the future treasure and inheritance which he has promised, and the foretastes sometimes of those soul-ravishing pleasures, which the saints shall have in fullness, and to eternity, when they are received up into glory. And it is Christ that hereafter will give possession to you, of the kingdom of heaven. At the day of his glorious appearance, after he has owned you before the whole world of angels and men, and honored you to be his assessors in his judging and condemning the wicked; he will receive you with acclamations of joy and triumph, into the glorious palace of the New Jerusalem, where you shall have the beatific vision and fruition of the glorious Jehovah, and be made partakers of such glorious felicity as has not now entered into your hearts to conceive. And will not the consideration of all this set your hearts on fire with love to Christ? Christians, is there any person like to Christ's person? Is there any love like to Christ's love? Are there any benefits like to Christ's benefits? No, no, he is incomparable in all; methinks then you should by this time feel your love to Christ like fire to burn within with a flame? Or methinks your love to Christ should be like water, I mean the waters of the sanctuary spoken of (Ezekiel 47:3-5), which at entrance were but to the ankles, a little further were up to the loins, a little further a deep river over the head, where a man might swim; methinks you should perceive an increasing of your love under these various motives, if your love were more shallow at first, methinks by this time it should have got some depth; when such winds do blow, the waters should flow and overflow, methinks your love to Christ should be raised to a high tide, and run with a strong stream. Thus for the motives drawn from the consideration of Christ's benefits, all which are so many orators for your love.